Monthly Archives: May 2012

Health care providers and health plans should expect an increase in patient requests for their own health care information as OCR continues to emphasize the HIPAA right of access. On May 31, 2012, Leon Rodriguez, Director of OCR, issued a memorandum regarding patients’ fundamental right to access their own health care information. See hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/righttoaccessmemo.pdf. Director Rodriguez,… Continue Reading

A recent decision serves as a reminder that violations of HIPAA may trigger criminal liability. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a former hospital employee is subject to HIPAA’s criminal penalties for the unauthorized access to patient records after he was terminated. The former employee was sentenced to four months in prison, followed… Continue Reading